The lightning that kept falling from the sky was not aimed at him, but it still exerted an invisible intimidation.
As Croy clapped his palms together, the "Night Shade" enveloping his entire body suddenly detached from him, transforming into a terrifying shadowy figure that pounced toward Quintina.
Croy himself, however, landed at high speed and instantly used "Shadow Dive." In that brief instant, his feet had already sunk into the shadows, and his whole body was rapidly descending.
An unnamed terror filled his heart. That instinct he could not ignore made him plunge into the shadows on reflex.
Yet, in the final moment before he completely entered the shadows, he saw Quintina tear the "Night Shade" apart with her bare hands.
Quintina's ten fingers were slender, but at some point they had become covered in a layer of deep-blue lightning.
She reached out and plunged her hands into the "Night Shade." With only a gentle pull to either side, she tore open a tiny slit. The lightning at her fingertips then rapidly spread along the slit's edges in both directions, instantly widening it and splitting the "Night Shade" in two.
It vanished in an instant!
Then Quintina abruptly turned her head, her gaze falling upon Croy, whose head was the only part still not submerged in the shadows.
In that instant, boundless terror erupted in Croy's heart.
He could not see even a trace of anger in those eyes, yet the fear in his heart magnified without end.
He immediately dived into the shadows and fled rapidly in the direction opposite Quintina.
But it was as though Quintina could see him moving through the shadows. Her gaze remained fixed upon him the entire time.
Then—
Quintina raised her right hand. Endless lightning gathered in her palm, forming a "Lightning Spear."